Travel agents taking part in a green brochure trial are being warned the scheme may fail if they don’t co-operate fully.
Nearly a quarter of the 100 branches taking part have yet to order any brochures through BP Travel Marketing Services’ online ordering system trade-gate.co.uk as part of the distribution company’s Green Brochure Charter.
This is despite the fact they signed up to the three-month trial with 25 tour operators six weeks ago.
BP now plans to visit half the agencies in the trial to audit their brochure stockrooms and urge any that have not ordered brochures to do so.
Managing director Paul Markland said some agents may already have sufficient numbers of brochures in their offices, but admitted: “It is worrying that nearly a quarter of agencies that volunteered to take part have not ordered one brochure since this trial started. This scheme runs the risk of failing if agents do not pull their weight.”
The system allows agencies to order the quantity of brochures they need. Agents have complained for years they receive too many brochures from operators, which means piles of unused brochures have to be dumped or recycled. The charter was introduced to reduce brochure waste.
Markland added: “It would be a shame if all this effort comes to nothing. I will be very disappointed if we can’t even get agents to do this simple thing. They are the ones who will suffer in the end – this is to solve their own problem.”
Sevenoaks-based Billington Travel owner David Carter is one of the agents participating properly in the trial by ordering brochures online.
He said: “So many times brochures come in the front door and go out the back. I have to pay for a big bin for all the brochures and I would not need that if this trial succeeds.”